Coming Home
by Kathryn Hart
Summary: "Just as Nick Cutter was about to give his life up, the strangest noise rose up around him. After a few seconds a great big blue box appeared directly in front of him." Two mysterious time travelers give Cutter a second chance at life. Nick/Claudia Ten/Rose, Series 3.3/Series 2, Romance/Friendship


**INTRODUCING MY 50th FIC!**

**This story is a summary of everything I've posted on this site so far. The beginning half was fueling my then-OTP: Nick/Claudia. Since their end was so heartbreaking, I explored the many different ways to get them back together, whether it be based off a dream I had, clones, a complex story over thirty chapters, meeting in the after-life, you name it. They are together again. End of.**

**The second half came slowly at first, until it was all I could ever write about. That glorious ship that is Doctor/Rose. I've done stories with every single one of the Doctors(Every Side of Me, for example) Nine/Rose is my favorite, but Ten's a bit easier to write. There are also many Eleven/Rose stories sprinkled in. So this story is a combination in tribute to all those 49 stories I've posted previously, even though many of them didn't get the feedback I wanted (Kiss the Rain! My latest Ten/Rose before this! Read and Review please!). Oh and I wrote one Hunger Games story too, so keep your eye out for that reference.**

**So, without further ado (and to end this stupidly long intro), I give you: "Coming Home"!**

* * *

_"I'm comin' home, I'm comin' home, tell the world I'm comin' home..."_

Nick Cutter shuddered. He knew this was it. Now all he had to do was await his final breath. Funny, he kind of always knew it would end this way. Ever since he lost Claudia, it felt like Helen had him on a leash. He could never hear her name without tensing up. She had once put such sunshine in his life, then brutally destroyed it. Of course she would end up killing him too.

Now here he was, lying alone in the once awe-striking ARC. Flames rose up around him but dared not touch him, as if they knew they needn't bother. Blood seeped out over his hands and his life flashed before his eyes.

_"Be careful what you wish for."_ Claudia was the only thing that kept him sane in those first days Helen had come back into his life. She was gentle, kind, yet not afraid to boss him and the rest of the team around. He didn't know how he got along without her. Sometimes he missed her so much he could barely breathe.

But she wasn't just gone. She had been born into a completely different person because of the stupid mistakes he'd made on the other side of that anomaly. Jenny was great at times, but she wasn't Claudia. No matter how similar they were alike in physical features, it's easier said than done to fall in love with someone else, someone who never knew you nor the things you had shared with them. Someone you had never kissed three times and could easily imagine spending the rest of your life with. Someone who took the place of the person you once loved, who didn't exist anymore.

It actually wasn't that bad the past year. Jenny had toned her diva look down a bit and had shown a bit of her true self, which actually was a but like Claudia's. Nick had even started letting her in as a close friend. But to fall in love again? He had learned the hard way to just keep your heart to yourself. It had been broken too many times.

Nick knew his end was coming. He wondered what waited for him on the other side. Would he, by chance, see Claudia, waiting for him? Most likely not, but, considering he was dying, he allowed himself a little hope. Just a little.

Just as he was about to give his life up, the strangest noise rose up around him, like a wheezing sound. After a few seconds of this a great big blue box appeared directly in front of him.

A few seconds more passed and a young woman with blonde hair wrapped up in a ponytail stepped out, clothed in a short jean skirt and a grey t-shirt embellished with the name of a popular clothing brand. She wrinkled her nose, not noticing Nick lying on the floor.

"Doctor," she said, her melodic voice betraying a slightly lower society London accent. "I don't think it's very safe here." She turned around and finally noticed Nick. "Oh my gosh," she yelled. "Doctor! There's someone hurt!" She rushed to his side, her caring eyes showing worry and compassion. "What happened?" She asked Nick.

"Gun...shot." He gasped. Darkness had started to reach the corners of his eyes.

"Don't worry. My friend, he's a Doctor, he can fix you up."

"I don't think this can be fixed." He'd hate to let her down but it really was true. She looked like she didn't believe him.

"Trust me, he's good. DOCTOR!" She shouted suddenly again. Finally a man in a brown pinstriped suit and a long coat appeared at the door.

"I couldn't find my trusty coat, I - _oh_," As soon as he stepped out he clutched his chest, having to grab onto the side of the blue box to keep from falling. The woman was at his side in an instant, helping to support him.

"Are you okay?" The Doctor looked around, a look of disgust growing on his face.

"This whole place...everything is wrong. We shouldn't be here."

"A man's been shot, we need to help him." The Doctor immediately straightened up and strode over to where Nick had been trying to sit up, still confused as hell.

"Been shot? Well, shouldn't be too hard to patch you up inside my ship."

"Your...ship?" Nick asked. The Doctor nodded.

"Yeah, Time and Relative Dimensions in Space, or TARDIS to be exact. Come on, let's get you in there before you conk out eh?" He motioned for Rose to help him heave Nick up. But as soon as they touched him he cried out in pain.

"I don't think this is going to work," Nick muttered through clenched teeth. The Doctor took a step back and contemplated the problem.

"I've got it!" He cried, running into the TARDIS. Nick just looked at Rose questioningly. She gave small giggle.

"Half the time I'm not even sure what's running through his head." Rose jerked her head back in surprise as the TARDIS suddenly faded away, before reappearing around the pair huddled on the floor. Rose laughed, seeing where they now were.

"Wow!" She exclaimed, standing up. "That was some good flying." They were right in the middle of the Med Bay.

"Wasn't it though?" They both grinned at each other, before realising that their patient was quiet, too quiet.

"Bloody hell," the Doctor muttered, seeing Nick had passed out. "Oh well, he won't feel this anyway." It was difficult, but they were able to get him up on the examining table. "Oh, and Rose?" The Doctor asked his companion.

"Yeah?"

"I don't make a habit of this. The Time Lords established that using medical technology on humanoids from their future was too dangerous to practice, due to the disastrous things humans do when they discover something they don't know." He shivered, remembering exactly and painfully how his seventh life ended.

"So...why are we doing this then?" Secretly she was glad they were able to help this poor man. The Doctor looked at her, a grave look in his eyes.

"Because, something is very, very wrong with this man's time line. And I aim to find out what it is."

* * *

Meanwhile, Connor Temple burst into the room where Nick Cutter had been in previously. A wheezing sound died as soon as he entered the room. His heart dropped in fear and heartbreak. _Where was his mentor and closest friend?_

* * *

Sometime later Nick's view swam into focus out of the blackness. His head and chest hurt like hell.

"Oh Claudia, I was having the weirdest dream. I was..." he sat up sharply, seeing the same room he had thought was in his dream.

"Woah, steady on mate." The same blonde woman from his dream said, laying a hand on his shoulder. Nick stared at her for a few seconds, trying to determine if he was still dreaming or if Helen had actually killed him. If she did, this afterlife must be kind of some twisted joke. The young woman seemed to know what he was thinking. She laughed, a light, thinking sound.

"You're not dead, if that's what you're thinking. I know it's a lot to take in, but I can assure you, it's all real."

"But, your friend, he mentioned time travel? And his ship? Wait, are we in that police box? This isn't-"

"As I said, a lot to take in," Rose bit back a smile. She did take in the tiniest bit of joy in seeing people overwhelmed by all of this. The Doctor most assuredly enjoyed it too. He didn't even try to hide it. "So, what's your name?" She asked him.

"Uh, Nick. Nick Cutter. My friends call me Cutter." _Or used to._ _If they even thought he was still alive._

"I'm Rose Tyler. Human, British. You're Scottish I presume?"

"Yeah, I was born in Edinburgh. You said you're human? You mean, your doctor friend...?"

"The Doctor. And no, he's not human."

"What I want to know is what you did to mess up your time streams like a bowl of spaghetti." Cutter and Rose looked to see the Doctor leaning against the doorway with a stern look on his face directed at the blonde man.

"I don't know what you mean," Cutter replied. The Doctor made a noise off irritation in his mouth.

"If the Time Lords were still alive, your time line would be immediately purged from the moment it went awry. But now they're all gone, so it's up to me to clean up this mess around you."

"There...there was an... instance." He thought of a way to explain this so they would understand. "Are you aware of the anomalies?" Rose shook her head, but the Doctor nodded, to Nick's amazement.

"Yes, ah, those Time Lords I mentioned earlier, yeah it's our fault. Accidentally created a rip in the fabric of time, the anomalies were the aftereffect of the sterilization."

"The anomalies are your fault?" Cutter held an accusing tone. All those years he had been searching for the cause of the anomalies? The Doctor raised his hands in self defense.

"It was hundreds of years before I was even born, which I can tell you was a very, very long time ago. Just when the Earth was first starting in fact, hence the creatures you encounter. I try to avoid them, the anomalies, not the creatures. Well, the anomalies and the creatures. Anomalies coupled with my time machine don't mix very well."

"What's an anomaly? And what about creatures?" Rose piped up.

"I'll explain it to you fully later. Let's just say they're doorways to the past."

"And the future," Nick added.

"Ordinarily you humans shouldn't be messin' about with those anomalies. Should've guessed, from your time period, how you messed up your future."

"It wasn't my fault!" Cutter tried to defend himself. After all, it was Helen who insisted on going through that anomaly in the first place. The Doctor looked like he was trying to hold back shouting at him. Instead he came over and leaned in front of him, whispering dangerously.

"Now, you tell me exactly what went wrong when you went into the past when you shouldn't have. And maybe, just maybe, I can fix it all." Cutter's look suddenly changed into a more hopeful one.

"Fix? You mean put everything how it was before?" The Doctor and Rose shared a glance. The Doctor's face softened. It was clear he obviously hadn't done it on purpose.

"I'll do my best."

"You like how it was before the change then?" Rose said. She may look young, but Nick was impressed by how fast she seemed to catch on, seeing how little she knew about what happened to him.

"Well yeah but, not considering one or two things, it was fine." He did like the new ARC building compared to the Home Office building, and how more mature a few of his friends were.

"And the one or two things?"

"Well, there was a woman, Claudia, I loved her." He remembered that kiss, that beautiful kiss, the last time he ever saw her.

"What happened to her?" Cutter was quiet for a second. The few times he had told someone this he had ended up regretting it. "You can tell me," Rose said, laying a hand on his shoulder. Cutter then proceeded to tell them everything, starting from his wife's disappearance for eight years, her coming back, what they did in that particular anomaly, and the changes that had occurred when he got back, specifically about Claudia Brown.

Rose's eyes looked glassy for a minute, as if she had a hard time taking it all in. The Doctor whistled in wonder.

"That's quite a story, one no man should have to go through."

"Tell me about it mate." The Doctor strolled around the room, thinking and running a hand through his hair.

"Sounds like to me your timeline merely split off in a different direction, a little more in the future and with only one or two changes. There actually isn't much to fix, more like a bit of tweaking."

"What do you mean split off?" Rose asked him.

"Well, imagine a river. This river here is Nick's timeline. Running normally, smoothly, as it's supposed to go. Then suddenly, it breaks off to the side, running with a bit faster current and a change in direction, and so forth, while the main river stops at a sand bar, ended by the lack of water heading that way."

"I don't get it," Nick said, clearly not understanding. "So my life is a river?"

"Of the sorts, yeah." Rose said, already grasping the theory. Cutter shook his head in amazement. "So, Doctor, we can fix it yeah? Make everything the way it was before?"

"Well, with the knowledge Cutter's told us, it shouldn't be too hard." He motioned for Rose to follow him out, but Cutter stopped them, trying to climb off the examining table.

"I want to help."

"Oh no." The Doctor stopped him. "You're at the center of this side universe we've slipped into. If you make even the slightest mistake your entire time line could crumble, past and future. You...you just stay here."

"Here, I'll show you a few things you could do." Rose grabbed the side of his arm and guided him out of the Med Bay. "What do you like? We've got an arcade, swimming pool, bowling alley, movie theatre..."

"Is there a library?" Rose grinned.

"Of course, I'll show you to it. It's massive!" Nick smiled, clearly excited. Not just about the library, but the thought of maybe, just maybe, everything could go back, back to the way it was supposed to be. He could finally go home.

* * *

After Rose had Cutter fully situated in the historical section of the library (and the Doctor had warned him never to share things he learned about his future, which of course Nick clearly understood the consequences of), the Doctor had taken Rose to the console room of the TARDIS. Cutter had given the Doctor the exact time in the past where everything had messed up.

"I'm surprised you're letting me help," Rose commented offhandedly as the Doctor flew the TARDIS. He immediately stopped what he was doing to turn and look at her.

"What?" He asked disbelieving, as if he didn't hear her correctly. "Why would you say something like that?" Rose was taken aback.

"It's no secret that I'm not the brightest companion you ever had. Hell, you didn't even trust me with the sonic," she turned her head away. The Doctor knew exactly what she was talking about.

"You're talking about when I gave it to Sarah Jane?" Rose nodded. Not only had it been offensive, she was also hurt by it.

"Never mind, I'm sorry I brought it up."

"Rose, you listen to me," he lightly grabbed her chin and turned her head to look at him. His eyes were earnest and sincere. "First of all, I gave the sonic to Sarah because I knew she was feeling left out. I know you're more than capable of handling it. But that's not the point. The point is, I don't take just anyone on board the TARDIS. You are so very bright, Rose. You may not have a strong education, but you're smart and can grasp things very quickly; you appeared to be more than confident in front of Nick." He let go of her chin and rubbed the top of her head like she was a dog. "There's no one I trust more to help me restore Cutter's time line. Now, let's do this," he landed the TARDIS back in the Cretaceous era and walked with Rose to the door. "Now, listen carefully, and do exactly as I say, and maybe this can be reversed. Oh, and watch out for dinosaurs."

* * *

A few hours later Nick emerged from the library, fully sated in his curiosity and wondering why this mysterious Doctor and his friend Rose were taking so long. He tried to remember the way out and then realised that the Doctor had...landed his ship around them. Gosh he felt like a fool for even thinking it. A part of his brain still believed he was dead. Or maybe Connor had found him and he was now lying in a hospital bed and everything here was just a dream...a really, really vivid one.

Suddenly a door appeared directly in front of him. He blinked twice, to make sure he hadn't imagined it. Now that he thought about it, the Doctor had mentioned something about his ship being alive...no, no he didn't. That was going too far.

He opened the door and saw that inside the room was a strange, console-like machine. Maybe this is where he needed to go.

As soon as he stepped into the room the door on the other side opened and in walked the Doctor and Rose Tyler. The Doctor was missing his coat and tie and his sleeves were rolled up past his elbows. His hair looked like he had run both hands through it multiple times. Rose however looked twice as bad. There was a tear in her jean skirt and there were nasty scratches on her bare arms and legs. They saw Cutter staring at them.

"He took care of the timey-wimey stuff while I got the technical." Rose explained.

"Timey-wimey!" The Doctor exclaimed in excitement, turning to beam at her. "I like that word! Have to use it more often."

"Technical?" Cutter asked. He was sure he'd learn about 'timey-wimey' later.

"Just a few predator younglings. Nothing she can't handle." Rose stuck her tongue out at him. Nick shook his head.

"I just don't believe that this can be real."

"Oh don't let the timey-wimey bit scare you off. Sure, it was very complicated and something only Time Lords can do and humans never able to grasp but..."

"Doctor," Rose patted his shoulder and he quit rambling.

"Right, sorry. Now, Nick Cutter, let's get you back," he motioned for Nick to come to the door.

"Is it...are we really there?"

"In the Cretaceous period yes. I'm sorry but you have to go through the anomaly right at the point you left. Those two years you lived will never have happened."

"B-but I still remember them."

"And you always will. You were right at the heart of the storm. If you want to I could probably remove..."

"No," Nick interrupted. "I need to remember, so I don't make the same mistakes again." He thought of the people who had died, the disaster with Leek, how Stephen had sacrificed himself, how Helen had blown up the ARC. He thought of Jenny, a bit sadly because, after all the same thing was happening to her that happened to Claudia. But it did comfort him to know that Jenny was only Claudia with the life she wasn't supposed to have. This time everything could go back to the way the universe intended and he could do it all right. The Doctor nodded in agreement.

"Are we really somewhere else? How does this move?" _Didn't that blue box seem a bit small before I passed out?_ He thought.

"It's really hard to explain in so little time. Let's just say it's a time machine that can also move in space. And is bigger on the inside."  
"So, anywhere in the world, and you come to London? Don't get me wrong, I'm grateful, but it's not the place I would go if I had a spaceship slash time machine."

"Oi!" The Doctor shouted, slightly offended. "I happen to like London. Besides my ship can take you anywhere you want to go, even places up you could never even dream of! There's the singing beaches of Kelsador 2, the revolutionary war of Panem, or back in time where King Charles first started his reign! Bit overly fond of my marmalade that man was, shouldn't have let him try it in the first place." Rose giggled, entranced by his monologue while Cutter just looked even more confused than before.

* * *

The three of them stepped out the TARDIS doors and Cutter found everything the Doctor had said was true. They really were in the Cretaceous era. Nick took a deep breath as a wave of nostalgia washed over him. It felt like so, so long ago when he had first been here, naive and undamaged by the events that were soon to come.

He turned to the Doctor and Rose who were standing right behind him, smiling. He embraced Rose in a massive hug, for a little longer than the Doctor preferred. Then he turned and shook the Doctor's hand.

"I could never, ever thank you enough for what you've done. You've saved my life and given me a chance to start over."

"No problem mate, it's just our job." Rose answered for the Time Lord. Nick noticed how the Doctor beamed in pride at his young, pretty companion.

"Oh Rose, I left my coat in the library, could you fetch it for me? I'm afraid I might get lost trying to find that room again."

"Of course," Rose smiled and took off. Nick immediately pulled the Doctor aside.

"Doctor, I've learned the hard way. Don't make the same mistakes I did." The Doctor was on his guard.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean Rose. I see the way you look at her. I used to look at Jenny like that, something I wanted but I knew I could never have."

"I...I don't want..."

"I cursed myself everyday for not telling Claudia how much she meant to me. One minute I was kissing her, the next, she's gone forever. Now I might have a second chance, but you might not get the same with Rose." The Doctor looked at the ground, his face turning red. It truly was his greatest fear, not just losing her, but facing those feelings deep down inside that he hadn't felt in a very, very long time.

They both straightened up as Rose darted back outside, holding Nick's gray coat, still singed with the fires of the burning ARC. Speaking of which, he looked down and noticed his black shirt still had a hole in it from where he had been shot. He hoped none of his friends would notice. He threw on the jacket and took a step back.

"Thank you," he said one last time, glancing at the Doctor meaningfully. Rose caught the movement and looked between the two men, a questioning look on her face.

"Goodbye, and good luck." The Doctor shouted to Nick as he walked up to the anomaly. He stepped through and the Doctor and Rose were left alone. Rose smiled. Another job well done.

"Hey," she said, turning to the Doctor. "Did you and Cutter talk about something while I was gone?" The Doctor motioned for her to step inside the TARDIS. She did and bounded over to the Captain's chair. The Doctor followed, shutting the door behind him. He stared at Rose intensely, his hearts filling with those emotions that frankly terrified him. It wouldn't hurt to put it off just a little bit longer.

"Nope. Nothing at all," he threw a lever and the TARDIS launched itself into the vortex.

* * *

As Nick stepped through the anomaly, he felt his chest tighten in anxiousness. Did the Doctor and Rose do it right? Would he be able to stop Helen before Claudia disappeared again? He was sure he'd never be able to find those two travelers a second time.

As he stepped through he noticed two things: one, he saw all his friends, Connor, Abby, and Stephen, as well as Lester and Helen standing there. The second thing he noticed was Claudia Brown, kissing the past version of him.

But as soon as Nick was completely through the anomaly, the past version faded away and all the people there got a confused look on their faces, as if they had just forgotten something important. Claudia turned to look at him. Without thinking Nick strode over and put his lips against hers, kissing her like he was trying to make up for the two years without her. In fact he was.

He pulled away and Claudia had a dreamy look about her, like she had been waiting forever for him to initiate a kiss.

"Claudia Brown," he whispered, gazing at her like she was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. "I love you," she gave a small start of surprise.

"Me too," she replied, her eyes still a little misfocused. Nick just grinned, before it fell as he saw his wife out of the corner of his eye.

"Arrest her," he shouted, stepping in front of Claudia like a shield. Two armed men of Captain Ryan's team immediately grabbed her arms.

"Hey!" Helen shouted. "What for?"

"As much as I don't want to agree with her," Lester said. "We really do need a reason."

"For attempted murder and suspicion of messing with the past." He looked over at his boss. "I'll explain it in detail later."

"Good enough for me," Lester said, hiding a smile. He never liked that woman. "Take her away, lock her up." He gave a wave of dismissal.

"What? No!" Helen cried as she was dragged away. "I didn't do anything wrong! You can't do this! Nick, don't let them!" Cutter ignored her shouts as he looked around at all his friends. Abby, who had a fire in her, who didn't know she'd fall for the man standing right beside her. Connor, who would grow to be so much more than the geeky student he had met on a cold morning. Stephen, his once closest friend, who had initially betrayed him, then given his life to make up for it. He knew they'd have to have a long, possibly heated discussion about Helen, but he'd be damned if he was going to let him get torn apart by hungry creatures again.

And Claudia. Her bright brown eyes, her easy-going demeanor, her soft fingers brushing up against his cheek when they kissed.

"Hey," she said, filing away all the questions that were flying in her head, except for one. "Wasn't your hair shorter before?"

* * *

EPILOGUE

_Two years later..._

"Nick!" Cutter grinned as Claudia came rushing out past the gates of the ARC and into his arms. "I'm so glad you're back! Were there really anomalies in Canada?"

"Yep. Got a team fully situated and everything." He grinned, before picking her up and swinging her around. She giggled with glee. After he set her down he kissed her wedding ring. "So, Mrs. Cutter, how was the team while I was gone?"

"Great. Connor and Sarah made a breakthrough on the artefact, Stephen wants you to come check out what he and Matt have developed on the EMPs. Oh and Danny says the security system's too weak."

"Of course he would. That man never slows down. Did Becker and his men arrest Christine Johnson?"

"Yeah. Right old spectacle they caused too." Nick laughed.

"I bet they did." Suddenly Nick felt something in his head, an urge to turn around. He did and let out a small gasp of surprise. There across the street, about fifty feet away, stood the Doctor and Rose Tyler next to that blue box, looking exactly the same as he had seen them two years ago. Rose gave a small wave and the Doctor did a half salute with two fingers. Cutter half saluted back and smiled. He had so much to thank them for. He grabbed Claudia's hand in his. In turn the Doctor did the same with Rose's. Claudia saw who Nick was staring at.

"Nick, who are those people?" She asked.

"Oh...just some friends of mine, helped me through a low point in my life." The pair climbed in their blue box. Claudia raised her eyebrows but Nick knew what was coming next. He turned her towards the entrance of the ARC. "You go on in. I'll catch up." He could tell Claudia wanted to ask him something but she didn't push it. Instead she smiled, before jogging past the gates and into the ARC.

After she had gone Nick turned back around and watch the time ship fade away with that same sound that had filled his ears when he lay in that burning ARC, dying of a gunshot wound. He had only known them for a short time, but he owed them everything. The Doctor and Rose Tyler had given him his life back, and he wasn't going to waste one second of it.

Nick Cutter grinned after the TARDIS had left, before taking off to catch up with his wife.

_"I'm comin' home, I'm comin' home, tell the world, I'm comin' home..."_

_END_

* * *

**And there you have it! Hopefully I will dive into the next 50 with different categories, such as Alice 2009, Thor, Falling Skies, Torchwood, DW crossovers with Iron Man, Contagion, Psych and Thor. (Btw my new favorite OTP is quickly becoming Me/Sam Winchester lol, so expect some Supernatural as well ^^) Feel free to check out my other stories, both DrRose and Click! :)**

_***KATHRYN HART***_


End file.
